Princess Kate made a speech about how youth mental health is important

The Prince and Princess of Wales’s joint appearance in Birmingham on Tuesday was another classic for the ages. The few times William did look at Kate, it was with disgust or disapproval. She seemed especially hyper and animated, like she was overcompensating. But “William looks irritated with Kate” is just one of my favorite keen photo sub-genre. Please enjoy the photos of “Kate making a speech” and “Kate is saying something and everyone around her looks bewildered or like they’re stifling a laugh.”

Kate’s yellow blazer was from LK Bennett and it was a repeat – I remember this now. She actually had a reason to wear yellow – she was honoring a campaign by the charity (YoungMinds) they visited, a campaign called #HelloYellow. Yellow is being used as the color of youth mental health. So… I won’t call her a Century 21 agent. As for Kate’s speech, she said in part: “William and I believe we need to do all we can as a society to help young people develop the emotional and social life skills they need for good mental health, and to thrive in the world around them.” That was it, really. She doesn’t have a plan, she doesn’t have advice, she’s just there to say “mental health is important, we should do more” and then take the helicopter back to her separation home.

This video has a clip of Kate’s speech. Note that Will and Kate spoke to groups of youths separately. William’s advice was actually much better than Kate’s speech. At least he had concrete examples of smaller things the youths can do to improve their mental health.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

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95 Responses to “Princess Kate made a speech about how youth mental health is important”

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  1. hangonamin says:

    i don’t think she can pull off curtain bangs? it’s overwhelming her narrow face and not as flattering. preferred when she had a bob. as for the yellow jacket…surprisingly with the black it doesn’t look as hideous as the first time she wore it. even borders on acceptable. i guess at least she’s on theme…

    • Belli says:

      It’s like she’s hiding behind her hair?

      • First comment says:

        She’s just hiding her new face…it’s pretty obvious she had some sort of cosmetic surgery and she changed her hairstyle to mislead us

      • Cee says:

        @First comment- SPOT ON!
        She’s been altering her face since 2017. Look at her lips when she isn’t smiling like crazy or talking – since when does she have an upper lip?

        I bet she’s had a face/eye lift.

      • hangonamin says:

        guys i’m not seeing it. i still see very thin lips and some loss of skin texture with aging. if anything a bit of baby botox to slow the aging but she still has wrinkles when in the pictures where she’s raising her eyebrows. i think if anything she’s aged and hiding that with her hair. or she needs to fire her plastic surgeon….

      • Cee says:

        @HANGONAMIN – compare photos of her from 2015 and you will see it. Her upper lip was thinner than it is right now, it was specially evident when she isn’t smiling nor grinning like crazy.
        She now has a defined upper lip when her mouth is resting

      • hangonamin says:

        @Cee thanks for helping me references but I really think those are the same lips. i’m looking at all the pics of her smiling more recently compared to before and i think the very slight definition (like millimeters) is just her defining her lips a bit more with makeup. and you can definitely track the aging through the photos. loss of skin elasticity, some wrinkles around the eyes and just overall aging.

      • Nic919 says:

        Her upper lip was never that big. There are definitely fillers there. It’s not lip liner but a more defined lip. She doesn’t go overboard with the lip fillers yet, but that’s not just makeup.

    • Little Bird says:

      I just read the article on Lainey about this – and she zeroed in on the fact her eye makeup has always been terrible. all the Duchy money in the world for what please?

      • Snaggletooth says:

        @little bird I went and read that article and it is quite shady. And the intense, high-res face close ups would be a lot, for any celeb, let alone Catherine.

    • swirlmamad says:

      All I see is an Afghan hound.

      • Erin says:

        I was about to look up the name of the dog that she reminded me of, thanks for doing it for me lol.

    • Jp says:

      They add 20 years to her face. It’s incredible, she looks so much like Carol with them.

    • Alison says:

      I can hear the Queen, now, “Catherine, get your hair out of your eyes! We do not go around looking like a shaggy dog!”

  2. seaflower says:

    That hair is appalling.

    • StillDouchesOfCambridge says:

      How many wigs today my god. She looks like the white sheppard dog on looney toons. Can’t see her face anymore.

    • CindyP says:

      She looks like “Cousin It”. Does she not have one friend who can tell her to ditch the ratty wigs & cut her hair? Does she not look at pics of herself & see how awful she looks? Meghan cosplay is a powerful drug!

  3. Cel2495 says:

    Oh gosh this is so sad and embarrassing! She just mumbles away and her speeches are always hollow and empty because there is no action behind them. She does absolute nothing for the causes / charities and think a speech can solve mental health issues in young people. It’s really sad, the animated face, the jazz hands and those crazy eyes … oh!

    • Smart&Messy says:

      I don’t remember anything from her speech, because all I saw was hair in her face. She was constantly bobbing her head to see her notes (of both sentences she had to say) which made her look even more stupid and out of her depth. If I hadn’t read the recap before the video, I wouldn’t have understood half of what she said. I’m not a native speaker, and to me, her fake accent sounds like she wants to imitate William’s accent, but can’t get it right. I can understand every word Peg says, but Mumbles sounds like she had a dental procedure an hour ago.

      Oops, I meant it as a reply to seaflower above. Anyway I think it’s relevant to your post, too. She is really embarrassing.

    • BeanieBean says:

      Basically, she has one speech: William and I, something something, important, having those conversations, still work to do, keep it up, blah blah blah. Save as, switch a few words in & out, read in full for the first time in front of the microphone, pause in mid-sentence, rinse and repeat.

      • kirk says:

        Perhaps she’d be more convincing if she shared her personal experiences with people. Like that time her brother-in-law’s fiancée Meghan made her cry before her wedding. And then made it worse by not allowing you, the mother of a bridesmaid, to set your own schedule for bridesmaid dress fittings! She could share her mental health recovery tips she used when her brother-in-law and his fiancée didn’t give expected Easter presents.

    • Lux says:

      I’m old enough to remember her very first public speech at a hospital. It was underwhelming and she was obviously nervous. Lots of looking down, looking left, looking right, then back down, just as she does here. This many years later and she is right where she was.

      So the lady is not a public speaker and has shown very little improvement. Work with her strengths (please identify them first!) and leave the public speaking to other people. Do they want everyone to fall asleep anytime a royal opens their mouth? No? Then let’s just retire that. No one will miss it. I guarantee you we’re all the better for it.

      • Nic919 says:

        I recall the smirking and then how the media pretended she wasn’t awful at it. She was in her 30s by then and university educated but they treated her with the same kid gloves as they would have for a 19 year old Diana giving a speech.

        She has not improved because she doesn’t need to. They let her slide.

  4. AMTC says:

    In other breaking news water is wet.

    And what’s going on with the claw hand thing she does.

  5. Krista says:

    Does she not want people to see her face? It’s all hair when you look at her, plus a nose, gaping mouth full of teeth and a hint of eyeballs. It’s a terrible look and she can’t pull it off – it really ages her, I think.

    • Miranda says:

      She looks like a damn Afghan Hound.

    • Snaggletooth says:

      So I have a theory. I think someone told the Rota to stop airbrushing Kate in the last few months and she actually IS trying to hide. I was saying on another thread, I have NEVER seen so many pics of her real face as I have in the last few months. Usually you see the unedited version in a dark corner of Twitter, or if she visits a foreign country. Suddenly we are seeing everything going on with her face, like every smudge of the gooped on eyeliner. So, yeah, I think she’s feeling self conscious and is trying to hide.

  6. Zut Alors says:

    So, no more festive butt pats?

    • BeanieBean says:

      They seemed to be in different rooms–the chairs in William’s room were very different than the ones in Kate’s room. Wow, even on joint visits they’re not together.

  7. Becks1 says:

    oh in general, William is definitely better at speeches than she is. I don’t know if its just practice/experience or his ego (so he thinks everything he is saying is so important) or if she’s just that bad. But he’s definitely better.

    again these words just sound so hollow. “we as a society need to do better” – well what are we going to do as a society Kate? The next line should be “which is why our foundation is funding X project or partnering with Y initiative.” I’m guessing that was not the next line here though.

    • Chloe says:

      He’s better because he’s used to do it more often. I am not going to lie: Kate’s public speaking has improved a lot. But the trembling voice and the looking down at her notes betrayed her. She doesn’t feel natural up there and is nervous. She needs to hold more speeches. It’s the only way to get over it.

      • Tessa says:

        I don’t see any improvement in her speeches. None. I don’t think she ever got lessons in public speaking. All that hair is distracting and the exaggerated looks.

      • The Hench says:

        William is definitely better at delivery when speaking. Kate has these weird pauses where she stops at what is probably the end of the line in her notes rather than the end of the sentence so her speech – as well as being no more than a string of platitudes – is also disjointed, as though being delivered by a robot whose battery is running down.

        But what Willian actually SAYS is also largely nonsense – for example this gem from today:
        “Concrete action, some sort of tangibility to come forwards, is the idea of where we would like to see this space go next.”
        Okaaaay then.

      • Taytanish says:

        Thank you @Hench. Peggy is NOT saying anything sensible either, it’s just meaningless word salad. And Peg needs to train himself to keep his fingers to himself, it’s not cool talking while sticking his finger in people’s faces, it’s really rude and aggressive behavior. And that woman reading such a few word speech off of cue cards is such a disgrace at this point. !@ years on the job (not counting the 10 waity years) and she still can’t say 20 words without reading from her cue cards?? What a disgrace!!

      • cleopatra says:

        Kate does not feel what she’s saying because the speeches are written for her.

      • Nic919 says:

        The main issue is her fake accent that she focuses in when she speaks in public. That is not something William has to worry about because he uses his natural accent.

    • sparrow says:

      No idea where this comment will land, but was intending to reply to becks1. Yes, totally agree, W’s far better at speaking to and with people. He’s more natural in a group setting than Kate is, and even more so when he’s on his own at an event.

  8. Rapunzel says:

    All the hysterical laughing. It’s deranged. You are not at a standup comedy shows, Katie.

  9. Zappy says:

    I want to cut her hair ..
    At least tied it

  10. StillDouchesOfCambridge says:

    Did you watch: Willie suggests to get away from screams… dude… pretty ironic. kate, louis must be wrecking him lol this marriage wont last.

  11. Can’t and Peg are the ones who needed to develop emotional and social skills to deal with life around them. These two are the poster children of we need therapy just look at what a mess we are together and apart.

  12. equality says:

    Just the yellow blazer and no other yellow incorporated in her look makes it appear that someone reminded her last minute about the yellow thing. Will apparently wasn’t reminded or didn’t feel the need. He could have worn a yellow shirt or tie to coordinate with her.

  13. ales says:

    Mumbles gave a speech about mental health. Total hypocrisy, she has helped no one nor does she seem to care about anyone other than herself. Another photo op for her collection.

  14. Em says:

    She actually more attractive when she smiles close mouthed like the first pic. The scary guffaws and widening eyes do nothing for her, it makes her seem like she’s overcompensating.

    • Beverley says:

      I speculate that her open-mouth hyena grins are to de-emphasize her increasing saggy jowls. If I didn’t know better, I would guess Mumbles’ age at around 50.

      At this rate of aging, she’ll be completely despondent (and desperate) regarding her aging by the time she becomes Queen – which may never happen anyway.

  15. Tessa says:

    That hairdo is a disaster it ages her and it makes her exaggerated expressions look worse.

  16. fabulous says:

    IMO they”re both bad at speeches, she can’t seem to keep more than one word in her head before having to check the notes again and he is just so handsy. Reminded me of the video they did for Mike Tindall’s pod – they are like octopuses waving their arms about emphasizing nothing. Ugh it’s like they’ve been watching too many ticktock videos.

  17. Amy Bee says:

    Doesn’t the Royal press complain when Meghan makes a speech and Harry doesn’t? What’s going on here?

  18. Lauren says:

    As someone who has anxiety about public speaking watching Kate try to give a speech is triggering, she just exudes discomfort and stress. I don’t really have sympathy because this is what Kate signed up for.

    • MaryContrary says:

      I hate public speaking with a passion. I would plan classes to take where I would not have to get up in front of a group: and I was a Communications major! However- once I started working and it was actually a big component of my job, I practiced constantly to improve. I know friends who would go to Toastmasters to improve. If I had her money and resources and knew how vital it was to get comfortable, I would have actual training (like Diana did!) So not only did she sign up for this, it’s completely within her power to improve.

    • unblinkered says:

      Agree, and I’d add actual fear emanates from her too.
      Makes for very uncomfortable viewing, and must be even worse for those present.
      What would they have given to have had Meghan giving a speech instead of KM…….

  19. I like that William isn’t offering any help with his multi-million dollar “charity”, he is EXPECTING concrete action.

    All those people who need better mental health had better jump to it, you know what he is like when he doesn’t get what he expects.

    • Kittenmom says:

      He’s bored with poor mental health!

      • Christine says:

        This is fantastic news for the homeless, because you know he is going to cycle back to that in the immediate future. They don’t have any mental health issues, they just have a not having a house issues!

        /s

  20. Boxy Lady says:

    I am also wondering about the wig. Why is she wearing one so much lately? We have speculated that she has an eating disorder. Is her hair thinning so much that she needs a wig to cover that?

  21. Brassy Rebel says:

    “Prince William shares how he maintains his mental health.” Oh, that’s easy. He has screaming rage fits regularly and violently assaults people. These are not the best two people to be giving mental health advice to young people.

  22. Wannabefarmer says:

    Why is willy looking at katie like that? It hit me that this is the look Harry described, that’s how he used to look at him. Hmmm.
    Ugly inside and out I guess.

  23. Flower says:

    The haircut, poor skin care, disordered eating, smoking and stress of her failing marriage are aging her at an alarming rate.

    The BRF are failing her just as they did Diana.

    This probably explains the lack of foreign or diplomatic trips. In this state they’re both a liability.

    • Lady Digby says:

      Another Cber commented last week that marrying into the Windsors is an ordeal for any woman because you are expected to conform to rigid notions worthy of the Dark Ages. Charles used Diana and wrongly expected her to put up and shut up. Now Willy is another uber tricky husband who doesn’t hide his loathing for his wife which must be cringingly obvious to anyone who meets them. The tension between them is palpable and yet they are being wheeled out to advise teenagers about mental health??

      • Flower says:

        Agreed @Lady Digby – maybe if they allowed their Princesses to seek mental health services they would be of more use to them.

        The BRF are a disgrace.

  24. Mary Pester says:

    Yes you lovely young people, THESE two idiots have come to speak AT you with words that are as bland and useless as they are
    Maybe just looking at the prk with teeth will give you nightmares but, please be assured that seeing the manic eyed woman might be a comfort because we just know that waving those hands around reminded you of Harry Potter and you know that under her breath she was saying expellelyamus! Seriously though, why the hell would people who could be and are suffering with their mental health, want these two looney tunes talking to them. Maybe they should have asked Billy and bland if they were still having couple’s therapy!!

    • Saucy&Sassy says:

      Mary Pester, “have come to speak AT you’. That’s the problem, because I think that’s what they do. They don’t make a connection because I doubt they are capable of doing so with strangers.

      • Mary Pester says:

        @saucy&sassy, I fully agree with you lovey. They CANNOT connect with people, because,
        One they have no empathy, and
        Two, they don’t actually care about the people they are talking to.

  25. kelleybelle says:

    I couldn’t finish listening/watching the “speech.” That isn’t a speech. She stands and reads and barely looks up, as per usual. Pathetic for someone who spent years stalking William and chasing this role. Both have all the charisma of boiled newspaper. *sigh*

  26. The Duchess says:

    She’s a hypocrite and so is her ghastly husband. Why is she so obsessed with suddenly covering her face? Is it to hide the botched procedures or the wrinkles? We all know how she isn’t coping well with the whole ageing process. Especially when she sees her arch-nemesis from across the pond stepping out and looking 21. She’s a walking car crash.

  27. EveV says:

    It’s absolutely crazy to me that Khate has not gotten even a little bit better at speeches in all these years. I swear, I could hear the panic in her voice every time she lifted her eyes from the page, worried she was going to forget a word. The fact that she could not memorize that little one minute speech (where she says absolutely nothing) is ridiculous, as is that damn accent.

  28. Beverley says:

    Poor Replikate! Duchess Meghan made a polished, intelligent speech and Mumbles’ handlers told her to get herself together and do the same. Except that she’s incapable of competing with Meghan in any way. Poor thing, her handlers and stans keep hoping they’ll get blood outta this drab stone.

  29. QuiteContrary says:

    What amazing wisdom from Willy: “I love to laugh.” Sure, Willy, nothing helps someone dealing with depression than telling them to “have a laugh.” It’s JUST THAT simple!

    The derangers on Twitter maintained that William pulling out a chair for Kate was proof of how much they loved each other, and how devoted a husband he is. The gist of their discussion was: Who needs hand-holding when a husband like Will pulls out a chair for the mother of his children? The bar is so low.

  30. Lea says:

    Kate is still very, very angry with Harry. She feels defeated and doesn’t is not going to fight the divorce, but she wants revenge. After the divorce announcement, Uncle Gary is going to expose William’s autism and talk about how Harry has let him and the monarchy down. The British press are willing to print it. William knows and is ready to be exposed. He is sad but resigned. He is ready to speak to Harry to mend the rift. He would like Harry to call him.

    • Snuffles says:

      William’s autism? Come again?

    • Jaded says:

      Autism? What the…nowhere has it been intimated that William is autistic. He’s just a self-congratulatory, lazy-ass, rich wanker with a bad temper.

    • AC says:

      @Lea I do agree, I think deep down(internally) she feels defeated.

    • Harper says:

      @Lea why do you think Harry gets Kate’s anger but William divorcing her only makes her sad and resigned? Was Harry supposed to stick around the UK because he knew Will was autistic? (Not saying it’s true but just going with it). Did Kate know she was only a part-time brood mare but went into the marriage hoping to change Will’s mind and is resigned to the fact that she did not?

      Also, I think you posted the other day that Kate has a new boyfriend. Whether or not it’s true, I hope she does. I’m strangely rooting for Kate to crawl out of the royal trap CarolE led her into.

      • Flower says:

        “@Lea why do you think Harry gets Kate’s anger but William divorcing her only makes her sad and resigned? ”

        ^^ Because women like Kate transfer their anger when they cannot face their real abuser.

        Also if you listen to the opening line of the promo for the new series of the Crown it becomes really obvious what the issue was when Harry left. We the public will never understand this but essentially the Monarchy is a death cult. You literally swear a blood bond in these families that you stick it out no matter what – just look at the situation with Andrew – they are still protecting him despite his heinous actions.

        In Andrew’s situation however he was aware of how slippery his brother was through decades of being thrown under the bus so assembled a dossier of receipts, which he has now used to not only keep his home but also have his children housed at Frogmore.

        Andrew is a horrible human being but he is also a realist. Harry & Meghan did not want to play those games so rightfully left. Good for them.

      • Nic919 says:

        No way kate has a boyfriend right now. First she would be happier if she did have one and she looks more stressed than ever.

  31. Mslove says:

    Whatever. Peg & Keen don’t have to worry about having enough food to eat or the everyday stresses our youth deal with. Peg & Keen have access to the best mental health resources on the planet, whenever they want, wherever they want. Their lectures sound condescending, IMO.

  32. sparrow says:

    Dear heavens! i haven’t been paying due attention to the lip fillers stuff on here because i’ve never .really seen kate with her mouth shut so couldn’t see it, but where she’s smiling with her mouth closed for once, wow!, it is so obvious. that photo doesn’t look like her at all; the new mouth makes her face look more drawn down somehow.

    • morgfunk@yahoo.com says:

      Yeah I actually noticed a while ago, and felt like a loser for doing so. But actually in all fairness, out of all the work she’s had done, which is mostly bad IMHO, her lips look good. Not overfilled not obvious…I actually think she doesn’t get injections but uses botox. It’s called a lip flip or something. I can’t believe I know this, but I heard people taking about how Kim K did it and it changed the space between her nose and lips and it showed before and afters. Sorry I didn’t hear people talk about it it was a plastic surgery account I follow on instagram (hey we all have our own guilty pleasures!), and I thought of Kate! She definitely had something done there, but man she should have that person do all her injections because the lip person actually got it right.

  33. J McGraw says:

    The thing they can never say is that poverty has a massive impact on mental health.

    Parents who have to work several jobs to stay afloat and lose time with their kids as a result impacts families’ mental health.

    Poor nutrition, shitty air quality and environmental racism impacts mental health.

    Lack of access to health care, support services, safety nets and addiction treatment impacts mental health.

    I live in the US where we score way worse on all these metrics than the UK (our safety net, which was never as robust as the UK’s, is now more like a safety string) but when I read about the cost of living crisis and then see these privileged, indulged royals flying around in helicopters lecturing the UK’s youth about the importance of mental health? It’s genuinely shocking how they’re seemingly allowed to totally divorce economic hardship from mental health issues.

    • unblinkered says:

      a very good point

    • bisynaptic says:

      THIS.
      Pretty much all the issues they purport to care about and/or “address” are driven by poverty/wealth-power disparity: environmental pollution, homelessness, mental illness, domestic violence, early childhood development…
      They are the poster people for the evils they wish to banish.

    • ChattyCath says:

      Well said.

  34. Bobbie says:

    She’s just the worst. I know it’s mean but she cannot talk at all. Like literally, she cannot speak. It’s not that hard to speak Kate. Her accent is like the equivalent of bad Botox, and she just says things that make no sense. It’s honestly like she’s a dumb doll. I agree with the comments on her looks too but it is the talking that drives me nuts. It’s not that freaking hard to speak. In your native language. Like a person.

  35. AMTC says:

    Agree with all the comments about her public speaking (and complete lack of meaningful content which I’m guessing is because she’s completely vacuous). I used to be terrified of public speaking but had to step up to a senior role after my boss unexpectedly left. I did the work and am now a competent and confident speaker. If she is going to spend her life being performative at least learn how to perform so that it’s not one cringe fest after another.

  36. J.Ferber says:

    I love the looks Will is giving Kate. I think he knows people say he looks at her as though he utterly disdains her (which is true). But these new looks are more like, “What the f-ck is she is saying?” or “Surely, that is not true.” They’re a little subtler than the contemptuous looks, but still far from neutral or respectful.

  37. AC says:

    Well she knew this will entail a very public role. If she cares to be proactive, She had all these years to enhance her public speaking skills. Even gen Z celebs are much more articulate and well spoken than her.

  38. bisynaptic says:

    The King Charles III commemorative plates! 😂😂😂😂😂